Manila, April 7 -- The Department of Social Welfare and Development-Negros Island Region (DSWD-NIR) will start the payout of cash relief assistance (CRA) for an initial 34,974 tricycle drivers in 19 local government units (LGUs) across the region on Wednesday.

The beneficiaries include 30,990 from Negros Occidental and 3,984 from Negros Oriental.

Each tricycle driver-beneficiary will receive PHP5,000 to help ease the impact of rising fuel prices caused by the geopolitical tension in the Middle East.

Among the payout sites is the highly urbanized Bacolod City, which has a total of 9,617 beneficiaries.

In a press briefing on Tuesday, Mayor Greg Gasataya said the payout will run for three days until April 10 in four venues.

"The fund co...